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Obama Coaches Students to ‘Get Serious’ and Study

Doug Mills/The New York TimesPresident Obama spoke to students at Wakefield High School in Arlington, Va. on Tuesday.

ARLINGTON, Va. – President Obama exhorted America’s students on Tuesday to study hard, set goals, accept personal responsibility, and “get serious this year’’ in a back-to-school address that became a lightning rod for conservative parents who accused the White House of trying to indoctrinate their children with a political message.

“The future of America depends on you,’’ the president declared, in one of the few departures from his script.

There were no surprises in the speech; the administration released the text on Monday so that parents and school officials could review it. Mr. Obama received a thunderous reception here at Wakefield High School, where the entire student body — 1500 pupils — packed into the gymnasium to hear him speak on their first day of school, providing precisely the kind of pep talk atmosphere the White House had hoped to create.

“I thought it was incredibly inspirational,’’ one student, Elizabeth O’Neill, a senior who said she hopes to study music performance, said afterward. “I don’t think it’s really sunk in yet that the president of the United States has come here and spoken to us.’’

Mr. Obama steered clear of politics in favor of the personal. He revived a story contained in an oft-played campaign commercial, about how his mother awakened him at 4:30 a.m. to study when the family lived in Indonesia and she could not afford to send him to the American school. And he spoke of how his father left when he was two.

“There were times when I missed having a father in my life,’’ he said. “There were times when I was lonely and felt like I didn’t fit in.’’ But, he said, that was no excuse for not working hard.

“At the end of the day, the circumstances of your life – what you look like, where you come from, how much money you have, what you’ve got going on at home – none of that is an excuse for neglecting your homework or having a bad attitude,’’ the president said. “That’s no excuse for talking back to your teacher, or cutting class, or dropping out of school. There is no excuse for not trying.’’

There was scant evidence of the controversy here in Arlington today. Several blocks from the school, a handful of protesters stood on the sidewalk holding hand-painted signs. “Obamecation. It takes the Village Idiot,’’ read one. “Obama-cation Dumbing Down Students,” said another.

But Linda Erdos, the spokeswoman for the Arlington County school district, said there was very little uproar among parents. “I don’t think anybody viewed this as having a hidden agenda.’’

The White House chose Wakefield in part because its student body is ethnically and economically diverse; three quarters of the students are minorities and nearly half, 48 percent, are eligible for reduced or free lunches, Ms. Erdos said. Mr. Obama has made personal responsibility a theme of his presidency, and has frequently addressed that message to minority communities.

Education Secretary Arne Duncan visited the school in February and was “struck by its sense of urgency,’’ he said in an interview. Wakefield is challenging each of its students to take Advanced Placement classes; Ms. Erdos said 40 percent of the students who graduated in June had successfully completed A.P. classes.

In a sense, the controversy, and the attendant publicity, was a boon for the speech; Mr. Duncan said as much on Tuesday, when he was asked if the uproar would undermine the president’s message. He ticked off a list of prominent Republicans who have stood behind the president.

“If anything, we’re seeing people, a cross section of people – Laura Bush, Newt Gingrich, Lamar Alexander, Bill Frist – we’ve seen people from very different walks of life say that maybe this is the most important thing the president can be doing is challenge our nation’s youth,’’ Mr. Duncan said.

He said he was not paying attention to conservatives’ complaints. “Honestly, that kind of stuff is like water off a duck’s back.’’

Video

President Addresses America's Students

In a back-to-school speech delivered at a Virginia high school, President Obama urged students there and across the nation to make their own futures through hard work and education.

Unbelievable.
It’s conservatives that have been pushing the whole “family values/personal responsibility” meme for decades and now all of sudden they have a problem with it when a Democrat is behind the message? This is beyond hypocrisy; frankly, it’s shameful.

A feel good pep talk to students that builds his credibility as an advice giver – to set the stage for a much more “controversial” bit of advice he will be giving later this week in a health care speech. Of course, one can manufacture controversy these days with 2 or 3 interest conflicted talking heads….

I hope that both the kids (today) and their parents (tomorrow) listen carefully.

It would have been a shame had Barack Obama not given that speech. He was able to speak with empathy and authority to kids of color and kids with single parents. No other President has been able to do this.

It boggles my mind that there actually are people out there that think the president was going to talk about abortion or promote socialism. Sadly, these are probably the same people that want to keep evolution and sex education out of the school curriculum.

I think the mainstream media needs to be able to distinguish between real controversies and ginned-up ones. They need to get a little more cynical and investigate the motivations. You never hear any followup on the crazy controversies after the crazy assertions are proved false yet people keep listening to these people as if they had any credibility.

I don’t understand why some parents are so against a speech by the president. What harm can it bring to our children?
My son is entering his first day in high school today. He needs to hear the speech. He needs to know he and he alone has his future on his hands.

Finally, a competent, well-spoken, genuine example of integrity and determination is not only leading our country but encouraging children to be better adults. We are incredibly fortunate to have such a capable and courageous man at a time when we need it the most. The “conservative” protests to are pitiful–your kids are learning about worse things than hard work and dedication at school, let me assure you. Rock on Mr. President, your country loves you.

I don’t see how Obama’s message can be seen as being “political”. Saying to children to go to school, to learn and work hard… how’s that political, how could this be a hidden agenda, how, indeed, can this be seen as “socialist”, is beyond me.

Since when being told that you have to study while in school became a socialist thing? I mean, what else is the purpose of being in school? Just hanging around and having a good time? Just passing time while growing up?

It seems to me that in this case, being “conservative” is really about protesting for the sake of protesting.

President Obama did a fine job at the high school. His talk was inspirational. I thank God every day we live in a country where our president can make efforts like this, despite criticism from political hacks and over-excited parents.

The public school our elementary children attend banned the speech. In an email to the parents the school system said they needed to review the video first before showing it to the kids. Since when does a school system approve what the President has to say? Anyone else out there have the same thing happen in their school?

I can’t imagine that anyone, Conservative or Liberal, of any political party could have a problem with this message. This is the “stuff” that America is made of. The message to work hard and succeed is fundamental to American values.

It would be shameful for any dedicated American to not allow their children to hear this speech.

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